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As we're preparing to wind down 2015 (which is still another two weeks away), I would like to thank everyone who has come to us for their I.T., radio broadcasting, media production and advertising services this year.

It is because of our customers not only in our immediate seven-county service area, but those we service throughout other regions in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, which has made us successful over what will become 12 years in business this upcoming March (between both WorldWide Publications & Media - which opened March 1, 2004 - and our present business).

There are some things that we will be working on, both personally and professionally, which will make us very busy and it may not always be related to the business. Here are some examples on what’s on the “hot stove” for us in 2016:

The Boss & Political Campaigns: General manager Jake Leonard will be involved in two political campaigns in 2016 with the Libertarian Party. On October 15, Leonard announced that he will be running for State Representative in Illinois’ 95th legislative district following Christopher Hicks’ departure to run for next spring’s Republican Party primary. On December 9, Leonard was given the nod to serve as Illinois campaign director for a fellow Libertarian businessman vying for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination next spring, Steve Kerbel. Media appearances may take some of his time and all work orders will be planned around the media schedule to avoid any inconveniences with our clients.

Service Area Expansion:This has been something we’ve considered since 2013, but haven’t been able to take the time to take action. The opportune time for this announcement is now. We’ve been wanting to expand our extended service area to Indiana and Kentucky, but we weren’t quite certain on where to start. As of January 1, 2016, we are expanding into four counties in southern Indiana (Vanderburgh, Posey, Gibson & Knox) and two counties in northwestern Kentucky (Daviess and Henderson). We are also expanding our immediate seven-county service area (Montgomery, Macoupin, Christian, Shelby, Fayette, Sangamon and Macon) as well and will be adding three more counties (Effingham, Bond and Madison) effective January 1, 2016.

We’re Returning To Radio!: This has been a long time coming since technical issues forced our flagship station WWPM MediaNet off the air in the spring of 2013. Despite cost issues and then having to find broadcast automation software that was compatible with Windows 8.1 and not cost an arm and a leg, we just couldn’t make it work. However, in October 2014, our boss Jake Leonard was contacted on LinkedIn by Jeff Spenard, president of VoiceAmerica - Live Internet Talk Radio with a proposal for a show on one of their eight specialty networks. For some reason, we forgot about that and didn’t start our planning stages until last month. Assuming we can get an agreement with VA, we will have a radio program on the airwaves sometime in 2016. This will be an opportunity to expand our roster of radio programs to include a live broadcast. Other details surrounding this has been put into detail in a previous status.

On Another Radio-Related Topic...: Back in March, a friend of the business, fellow broadcast colleague and former music director for WWPM MediaNet, Tom “Tommy Doom” Green, host of The Vault Of Midnight Podcast, passed away from complications from Lou Gehrig’s disease, also more commonly known as ALS. The station was a loyal broadcast affiliate of the program alongside 101.9 Fox FM- The Internet's Rock Station until the program’s eventual indefinite hiatus in 2013. We are hoping to work together with Deep South Media Group, LLC in getting all of the broadcast archives (or at least the ones that aren’t lost forever) for permanent archiving and for special uses. Details haven’t been completely hashed out, but plans are to co-produce a special broadcast honoring Green sometime next year and then proceed with a joint production of the relaunched program, which we feel “Tommy Doom” would only want to continue. We will give further details as things are straightened out and former guests and co-hosts have open schedules for this special live broadcast and find a site that can allow a two-hour broadcast.

This is only the beginning of what we’re working on in 2016 and we are hoping you’ll continue to join us as we reach 12 years in business!

Jake LeonardGeneral Manager​Heartland Internet Media Networks

The above was a post previously made earlier today on Facebook.

About The Author: Jake Leonard

Jake Leonard is the managing owner and senior I.T. technician of Heartland Internet Media Networks, a broadcast media veteran of 10 years and a freelance journalist who contributes to many publications such as Radio World, Entrepreneur, Wired, BeforeItsNews.com and TheBlaze.

In preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday, Heartland Internet Media Networks will be closing early at 4:30 PM next Wednesday, November 25 and will remain closed until all business operations will resume at start of business on Monday, November 30.

However, we'd like to make known some quick clarifications:​

Although we are closed for the holiday weekend, previously scheduled work orders and emergency work will be performed. No emergency work will be performed until 6 PM on Thanksgiving night.

Emergency work between 6 PM on Thanksgiving until start of business on Monday, November 30 will be billed at our holiday rate: 2.5x our normal billing rate. Based on hourly work, that would roughly be $217.50/hour. Pre-scheduled work during this period will only be billed 2x the normal rate, or $150/hour based on hourly work.

Exhausted from your Black Friday shopping and don't feel like installing and hooking up that HDTV you scored a great deal on at Walmart, Target or elsewhere? Give us a call! (Make sure you give us the size of the TV and whether it will be mounted or not. Larger TVs may require bringing in a second technician.)

On Small Business Saturday, which is Saturday, November 28, we will only be doing scheduled service calls and they can be scheduled anytime between 7 AM and 7 PM on that day. We have not yet determined the fee schedule for this day.

About The Author: Jake Leonard

Jake Leonard is the managing owner and senior I.T. technician of Heartland Internet Media Networks, a broadcast media veteran of 10 years and a freelance journalist who contributes to many publications such as Radio World, Entrepreneur, Wired, BeforeItsNews.com and TheBlaze.